Chinese brand Chery is making a comeback in South Africaand has announced a corporate shift, an all-new business strategy, plus a raft of modern products that will be introduced in the local new-vehicle market in the near future.

Chery is a brand that some South Africans know well. At one stage, the Chery QQ was SA’s cheapest new car, but it was probably one of the best examples of why Chinese modelsweren’t taken seriously before 2010. Chery South Africa has now been established asawholly-owned subsidiary of the automotive giant;previously, Chery models had been distributed bya dealer group (Imperial) under licence.

There have been dramatic improvements in the quality – and sales figures– of Chinese models in South Africa in 2020/2021. With Haval SAshooting up the new-vehicle sales charts by virtue of the strong uptake of its outstanding value-for-money offerings, it was only a matter of time before other Chinese manufacturers (of right-hand-drive vehicles)took notice and attempted to pull off a repeat performance.

Interestingly, a number of members of the new Chery SA team are all ex-Haval SAemployees and they’re confident that they can replicate a Haval-like performance with Chery. With a head office in Bryanston, Johannesburg, Chery SA will soon be introducing its Tiggo range of compact crossovers/SUVs in Mzansi.

But the brand’s business interest in South Africa goes far beyond launching new products. There will be a big investment indeveloping the dealership footprint, as well as establishing Knock-Down (KD) assembly plants. Essentially, the cars will arrive in the Republic inkit form, with alocal workforce completing the final assembly of the vehicles. This will mean job creation, which is always a good thing.

The timeline for Chery SA demonstrates urgency and eagerness to make inroads in the local automotive market.The first phase of the plan startsfrom now and will continue until 2023, during which time the firm hopes to retail 10 000 units. From then (2023) to 2026, Chery will start pushing into the rest of Southern Africa, while the 3rd phase will see the planning of the aforementioned KD facilities.

Right now, the focus is on appointing the first 30 dealerships in South Africa, with the first new vehicles due to make landfall in the finalquarter of 2021. Chery SA will be backing up their new wares with a comprehensive warranty/service plan, 24-hour roadside assistance, and will establish a large parts warehouse.

Cheryproducts coming to our market

As far as products go, Chery SA has quite an array of vehicles earmarked for South Africa. First to land will be the Tiggo 4, a compact family car that’s roughlythe same size as a Kia Sonet. It will be available in manual and automatic guise, as well as with naturally-aspirated and turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol engines.Expect this model to reach South African showrooms in the 4th quarter of 2021.

The Tiggo Cross and Tiggo 7 will be launchedin Mzansi in the 3rd quarter and 2nd quarter of 2022 respectively, and they’ll be pitched in the family car segment. Interestingly, a bakkie is on the cards for SA too. It’s due in the 2nd quarter of 2023 and will be called the Tiggo Pup. For the big SUV fans, the Tiggo 8 will be touching down early in 2022 and it seems roughly the same size as theHyundai Santa Fe.

Final specs and prices have yet to be confirmed, but at the presentation, we had a chance to inspect the vehicles on display. While styling is completely subjective, there’s nothing too radical-looking in the line-up. The Tiggo range appears fresh,with upmarket-looking interiors. When he looked insidethe vehicles, thelevels of fit and finish we saw werecomparable with those of established brands’ products.

The level of specification in the Tiggo 8 Pro, in particular, lookedquite impressive, with plenty of tech features and digital user interfaceson offer. While we weren’t allowed to drive the vehicles, we rode to and from the launch venue in abase-spec Tiggo 4 Pro and found the vehicle’s on-road refinement (especially the hushed cabin) quite impressive.

Can Chery SA duplicate or eclipse Haval’s market performance? Time will tell, but if similar strategies are followed and the market receives products that are well priced, boast enough features to satisfy the connected generation and there’s good support from the after-sales division, we don’t see why not. We look forward to bringing you road tests and video reviews of the all-new Chery South Africa range.

Further Reading:

Haval Jolion review

Chinese cars and what it means for SA